


A Crash Encounter

by Mecha_Maid



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Accidental First Kiss, Diana is oblivious, Everybody Ships It, F/F, everyone's a little shit about it, so is Akko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-17 10:38:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13657296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mecha_Maid/pseuds/Mecha_Maid
Summary: A collision with a broom-riding Akko leads Diana to finally acknowledge the strange feelings she had been experiencing for her dear friend lately.





	1. A Realization

Akko Kagari was incredibly distracting. She was also loud, brash, blundering, and entirely too overzealous. Most days the girl was a literal walking disaster, and yet, she was also oddly endearing. It was perplexing, a puzzle that not even the resident scion of Luna Nova herself could solve.

There was something so attractive about Akko, something that Diana just could not place her finger on. 

Yes, Akko had a pretty face,  _yes_ , she had the toned legs of an Olympic athlete,  _yes_ , her eyes were as stunning and smoldering as a pair of rubies,  _but_ \--physical attractiveness aside, Akko Kagari was inherently captivating. She had this uncanny ability to catch Diana's eye, whether she was performing one of her foolhardy antics, or doing something as simple as eating her lunch.

It was as if every move that Akko made was intended to capture Diana's attention, and it was working marvelously.

She was distracting.  _Too_  distracting, even after she had mellowed out since her arrival at Luna Nova. It was the most menial things that confounded Diana so. 

Akko's radiant smile. Akko's musical and often too loud laughter. Her whines and huffs over something that was frustrating her. That thing she did with her tongue, sticking out of the side of her mouth, when she was actually giving all her attention to a task. Her  _damn_  little ponytail, bouncing with her every move and flooding Diana with the unbearable urge to reach out and grab it in an attempt to tame its unruliness. 

She was just so...  _charming_ , Diana decided as she sipped her cooling tea while watching her classmate float about on her broom, giggling like a madwoman. Akko let out the occasional "yay" as she went along, arms high in the air and an infectious grin on her face. Despite herself, the blonde smiled with her lips against the rim of her cup at the sight. 

O'Neill cheered her on overhead, performing rather dangerous-looking twirls on her own broom that Diana could do without. Akko did not need any more hazardous ideas put into her head.

To Diana's left sat Hannah and Jasminka on a cobblestone wall, sharing whatever confections that Jasminka had brought along in her picnic basket. To her right, seated upon the same quilt as she sat Barbara and Lotte gushing about something Nightfall related. Diana had tuned out their nonsensical conversation ages ago.

Constanze was tinkering with her Stanbot and Sucy was combing through the grass looking for mushrooms.

Diana herself rested in the middle of all this commotion, nursing a cup of tea and observing her classmates. Though… she would admit, Akko commanded her attention more often than the rest of the girls, as she always managed to. At least here Diana was not supposed to be taking notes or listening to a lecture while the other girl had her concentration in a vice-like grip. 

It was very pleasant. Noisy, but comfortably so. It was fortunate that the Red, Green, and Blue teams had all managed to put aside any past animosity to become friends, though Diana guessed saving a country from a weapon of mass destruction together did that to people, excluding Hannah and Barbara. Her two old friends  _were_  being more cordial with the others at least, and Diana appreciated that. 

Drinking in the satisfying atmosphere, interrupted by Akko's frequent laughter, Diana inhaled deeply, then exhaled, sliding her eyes shut.

"Di-an-ahhh!" The very girl who beguiled her sing-songed, and her eyes snapped back open to seek Akko out.

She could not explain the slight lurch her stomach experienced when she laid eyes upon her classmate, who was standing upright on her broom, hands propped on her hips. Thankfully, Akko was not even three feet off the ground, but if there was even the smallest chance of Akko Kagari falling…

Diana opened her mouth to reprimand her, but Akko spoke before she could get a word out.

"Ha-hah! Look at me!" She lifted one hand from her waist to jab her index finger out. "The next Shiny Chariot is here! Just you watch!" Akko declared proudly.

Diana's grip tightened on the handle of her cup as the brunette began accelerating. She was getting a terrible sense of foreboding.

"Ah… Akko?" Lotte, who to Diana's relief shared her worries, said timidly.

"Akko—" Diana herself began, but she was cut off this time by O'Neill shouting,

"Do a flip!"

Diana exhaled huffily through her mouth at the American's suggestion.

"Do _not_." She commanded sternly.

"You got it!" Akko heedlessly yelled back at Amanda, giving her a thumbs up.

Her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in that adorable way, Akko crouched to grab her broom, lost her balance, and promptly fell backwards.

Almost everyone winced as she made impact with the ground. Sucy snickered, her lips split in a sharp-toothed grin.

Unclenching her jaw, Diana sighed heavily and set her teacup down onto an empty saucer. She rose to her feet, taking a moment to brush her skirt off, before approaching her fallen classmate.

Akko laid in the grass, groaning and cradling the back of her head. The heiress shook her own head briefly as she peered down at the other girl, a puzzling fondness for Akko washing over her once more. 

Akko was a complete moron sometimes, but she was a cute one.

 _Ah… cute?_  When had Diana started describing Akko Kagari with the word "cute"?

"Akko, are you okay?" Diana extended her hand after giving her head another shake to banish the confusing thought.

Akko planted her hand, calloused but delicate, into Diana's own, and the blonde flushed at the contact despite herself.

 _This again._  She internally groused as she helped her classmate climb back to her feet.

Why did her heart start to race whenever they so much as brushed against each other? Why did Akko's presence make her head so light, so clouded, and her chest so warm? It was disconcerting, to say the least. Diana was going to get to the bottom of these convoluted, intrusive feelings one way or the other, they were really starting to interfere with her academics.

"Ugh, I'm fine." Akko replied, unaware of the blonde's plight. If anything, she doubled its intensity by squeezing Diana's hand in her own when she declared, "I'm gonna give it another shot!"

Diana found that she had no desire to untangle their joined hands, and on a selfish whim, placed her other atop Akko's already captured hand.

"Akko, no. You've been doing so well with your broom riding. Why not continue to take it slow? Soon you'll be able to perform more…"

The corner of her mouth twisting, the blonde cast a glance at O'Neill who was floating overhead. The redhead winked at her, and Diana scowled. "...daring feats."

Akko appeared thoughtful, considering her suggestion, and absentmindedly, Diana let her gaze wander over the rest of her classmates.

Everyone was watching the two of them, Lotte smiling softly, Sucy smirking, Barbara looking dreamy and Hannah wearing a similar look. Jasminka retained her usual carefree expression, nibbling on a potato chip, but her eyes were bright. Constanze gave her a thumbs up and a purposeful nod when Diana met her eyes.

It was then that Diana realized that she had been holding onto Akko's hand for an entirely inappropriate amount of time.

With a panicked speed like she had just been burned, Diana released Akko and formed fists at her sides to keep her wayward hands from wandering anywhere else. The brunette looked at her with bewilderment, blinking.

O'Neill laughed obnoxiously at the exchange, and Diana glowered up at the redhead who was now laying sideways on her broom, her chin in her palm.

No matter how distasteful Diana found Amanda's audacity and general disregard for authority, she had to admit that her skill with a broom was impressive. Still, she was a massive,  _irritating_ , show-off. 

"Oh, come on. Quit babying her, Cavendish. What better way is there to learn than by trial and error?"

Trial and error? Using that kind of psychology Akko was liable to kill herself! She certainly had the tenacity to keep getting back up when things went awry.

Diana narrowed her eyes at the redhead, projecting every ounce of her displeasure with the flinty look.

"I'd say the best way to learn does not involve concussions or any other sort of bodily injury,  _O'Neill_." She shot back curtly.

 _"Ooo."_  Amanda simpered, raising both her hands in surrender. The redhead shifted herself so that she was on her back, folding her arms behind her head. "Though our opinions don't really matter, eh? Akko, what do you think?"

From the corner of her eye, Diana watched as Akko positioned herself over her broom, holding it between her legs. The blonde turned toward her and was met with a grateful smile that made her stomach flutter.

"Thanks for worrying about me, Diana, but I think Amanda's right,"

Those words were almost like a slap to the face for some unfathomable reason.

Diana's tongue tasted bitter. Was she just being too overprotective, or was this _jealousy?_ What in the world did she have to be jealous about? Akko brushing off her worry for her  _was_  a little irritating, and Amanda  _was_  a less-than-desirable influence for her, but… jealousy? This was a foreign feeling to Diana, though in all fairness, every emotion that Akko arose within her lately was foreign.

"...The only way I'm gonna get better at broom riding is by doing!" Akko finished happily while pumping her fist in the air.

"Alright Akko!" O'Neill whooped overhead.

Diana sighed in a jaded manner, crossing her arms.

Perhaps she was "babying" Akko, as Amanda had so eloquently put. Akko, as she was aware, was impatient and impulsive. Most everyone around her had been flying on brooms since they were children, and she had a great deal of catching up to do. This snail's pace that she was going at was most likely only making her more eager to make progress.

Still, Diana also couldn't help but worry. She was certain that one way or another this was going to end with Akko in a groaning, bruised heap, as her various endeavors usually did. 

 _"Tia Freyre!_  Let's go!" Akko cast the spell and shouted with gusto, and she shot off like a comet… straight at Diana.

Diana barely had the time to curse her penchant for Akko, the lovable idiot, before she was bowled over.

Akko's chest collided into hers, stealing Diana's breath from her with the highest velocity hug she'd ever received. They fell, Akko's svelte body flush against Diana's, their legs entangling, their foreheads knocking together painfully, and most shockingly: their mouths crashed right into the other's.

Those few seconds it took for Diana to finally meet the ground were maddening. She was being bombarded with so many rushing emotions and sensations.

Akko's lips pressed against hers were so soft and plush. She enjoyed this feeling.

Akko's body, lithe and slimmer than her own, was a comfortable weight that she wanted to pull closer.

Her chest was tight and burning, begging for the oxygen that had been forcefully taken from her.

Her head, _Dear Jennifer,_  her head was hurting profusely and was certainly going to bruise.

Diana's back at last slammed into the hard ground beneath her, and Akko's "comforting" weight was fully dropped onto her, winding her for a second time. The brunette may not have looked like it, but the Nine help her, this girl was heavy.

With Akko sprawled on top of her, Diana wheezed into her classmate's mouth, desperate for air.

Through the ringing in her ears and the static that was consuming her mind, Diana registered their audience's various reactions. Lotte, Hannah, and Barbara gasped loudly. Jasminka murmured something that sounded like "Oh dear," before crunching on a chip of some kind. Amanda was laughing uproariously. Sucy was cackling just as animatedly. All Constanze offered was a vaguely interested "hmm". 

Diana heard Sucy say through her laughter, "Whoa there, Akko. That's pretty bold of you."

Consuming her vision was Akko herself, ruby-red eyes wider than the moon and her complexion quickly flushing pink. In all honesty… it was a sight that Diana would not have minded seeing more often.

_Ah, what? Goodness, where are these thoughts coming from?!_

Even through all the pain, embarrassment, and shock, Diana couldn't stop the wave of disappointment she felt when Akko pulled back, lurching off her.

"Ah!" She shrieked, her face quickly flushing a vivid red. "I-I'm-ah!  _So_  sorry Diana!" Akko sputtered, frantically waving her hands in front of herself. "That was an accident, I swear!"

Diana, stars flashing in her eyes for reasons other than the head trauma she had just received, didn't move from where she lay. She could hardly form a coherent thought at the moment, never mind words.

There was a flurry of footsteps, feet crunching on the grass, and Hannah and Barbara were suddenly flanking her at each side. Her friends grabbed her upper arms and gently coaxed her to sit upright.

"Ah, Diana, are you okay?!" Hannah placed her palm over Diana's throbbing forehead. She shot a glare at Akko, who flinched. "Look what you've done, you dunce! You could have really hurt her!"

"Yeah!" Barbara added hotly, "Like, this is whole other level of carelessness for you!"

Lotte appeared next to Akko, a worried smile on her lips as she tried to mediate the situation. "Now, now. It wasn't entirely Akko's fault. It was an honest accident…"

Sucy, who had joined her teammate, snickered again, and Lotte jabbed her in the ribs with her elbow.

Akko continued to spill out more unintelligible apologies, hiding her face in her palms. Diana blinked, misty-eyed, up at her classmate, lifting her arm to brush Hannah's hand from her head.

"Everything okay over here, girls?" A familiar voice came to Akko's rescue, Professor Ursula, who looked like she was trying not to smile and failing horribly.

Akko started as their professor approached, her hair whirling around her face when she turned quickly enough to almost give herself whiplash. Her expression lit up with relief that drained the pinkness from her complexion.

"Ursula-sensei!" Akko dashed over to their shared idol and grabbed the woman's arm, peering up at her with those infamous puppy-dog eyes of hers.

"H-hey, soooo how about we work on my transformation magic some more?" The brunette suggested, stepping around Ursula and beginning to tug her back toward the schoolyard. Their professor complied, that knowing and amused smile never leaving her face. "I-it's not like I'm busy right now and I could really use the…"

Akko's shaky voice faded the further she and Ursula went, before the two of them disappeared completely around a wall.

Still struggling to recollect herself, Diana watched her idol and classmate's retreating forms, distractedly rubbing at her aching head. The murmuring around her and both Hannah and Barbara's continued fretting were mere background noise.

She believed that she had finally figured out what made Akko Kagari so captivating. Diana had developed romantic feelings for Akko.

She shut her eyes, her fingers moving down from her head to her lips, which were still tingling with sensation of Akko's upon them.

Yes, that had to be it. It explained so many of the confusing feelings and states that she found herself in whenever Akko was around. Her racing heart, her clouded mind, and her shortness of breath were not signs of some kind of health problem, but... a crush?

Diana did not think that she had ever had a crush before Akko. She had always been so focused on her education and legacy that romance had been a frivolous afterthought.

There was also the fact that Akko was a girl. This revelation was honestly not all that shocking, though. Diana had never understood the appeal of boys,  _or_  girls until recently. While Hannah and Barbara swooned over Andrew, Diana had been unaffected by his supposedly "devilishly handsome" looks. Though that might have been related to the fact that he felt more like an irritating sibling than a potential love interest.

Lowering her hand from her mouth, Diana brought her attention to the two pressure points on the bridge of her nose to ward off her oncoming headache.

When had it began, she wondered? When she and Akko chased after the missile into the breathtaking vastness of the atmosphere and performed the Shiny Arc together? Diana could still vividly remember their closeness in that moment. She stood at Akko's shoulder, her arms draped around the other girl as they grasped the Shiny Rod together. Her hand was over Akko's, she turned to Diana before they fired and smiled that beaming smile at her.

Or maybe it had begun the day Akko pursued her from Luna Nova to her family's estate. Her self-proclaimed rival had argued harder than any teacher or even her  _friends_  to convince her not to leave. Akko's stubbornness and disregard for her own duties had been infuriating, but Diana also recalled how endeared she felt. Akko Kagari, her "rival", cared enough about her to chase her down and demand that she not leave the school of her dreams. 

Maybe it had begun even further before that. The Samhain Festival? The Pappiliodya incident? While her opinion of Akko had been less-than-savory at those times, she had been impressed, starstruck even, at the fact that Akko could accomplish things that she could not. 

Akko was just… incredible. Diana did not have enough words in her expansive vocabulary to explain it in more detail.

She was abruptly shaken from her musing by someone's hand gently jostling her shoulder. Diana opened her eyes and dropped her hand from her face.

"—iana? Diana?" It was Hannah, crouched in front of her. Barbara was next to her, both looking concerned.

"Uh, are you okay? Like, do you need to go see the nurse?" Barbara asked.

"Oh, it's just a little head trauma. I'm sure she's fine!" Amanda piped up, and Diana turned sluggishly to the sound of her voice. The redhead was on the ground now, her broom in hand.

Hannah and Barbara immediately began to bristle, the two of them twisting around to snap at O'Neill. Blinking harshly, Diana reached out and captured Hannah's forearm to stop her. With her other hand she grabbed Barbara's. Her friends froze, returning their attention to her.

"It's okay, girls. I'm... okay." She soothed the two of them, attempting a convincing smile.

"You sure, Diana?" Hannah said. Diana then looked to Barbara, expecting her to finish the thought.

"You and Akko um… hit, pretty hard." Barbara said with a small wince.

Amanda snickered into her palm, and Diana’s two oldest friends rolled their eyes in sync. 

"Well, Diana? You looked like you were thinking hard." Sucy spoke before either girl could retaliate. "Did Akko, literally, knock some sense into your head?"

"Sucy!" Lotte chided her teammate.

"What?" Sucy retorted gruffly, shrugging. "Aren't we all tired of watching these two blockheads dance around each other?"

Diana should have been offended by that jab at her intelligence, but... she agreed. Everyone else around her had been able to see her attraction to Akko, so why had it taken her this long to figure it out for herself?

Sighing, Diana picked herself up off the ground and primly brushed the grass from her skirt.

Her audience watched, eagerly awaiting her response. Well, except for Constanze, who had her back to Diana and was hunched over her machine.

"Yes, she did," Diana said to Sucy. "I need to go find Akko." She directed to the rest of the group.

Jasminka stepped forward, a chocolate chip cookie that she had seemingly pulled out of thin air outstretched.

"A cookie for confidence?" She suggested merrily.

Diana regarded the offering for a moment, before accepting. She wasn't particularly fond of sugary things, but she needed all the courage she could take right now.

"Thank you, Jasminka."

Inhaling to gather herself, Diana turned on her heel and started toward the school. As she walked, she prepared to take a bite of her gift. Just as she closed her mouth around it, Amanda's obnoxiously loud voice rang out behind her.

_"Go get your girl, Cavendish!"_

The cookie was crushed to pieces between her teeth, and blushing furiously, Diana quickened her pace.


	2. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love these gays--I mean, girls.

Across from Professor Ursula, hunched over the table between them, Akko muffled her distressed wailing with her hands cupped over her face.

She was mortified. Beyond embarrassed. Ready to throw herself off the New Moon Tower with no regrets.

Finally spent and breathless, she peeked through the openings of her fingers to look at her professor. Ursula was smiling so widely, clearly amused with her dilemma, but Akko was too tired to waste more energy on being mad at her professor.

Sighing, Akko dropped her hands and clutched her knees tightly, catching a glimpse of Alcor on his perch over Ursula's shoulder. He was giving her the stink-eye, no doubt because of how loud she was being.

"Are you done, Akko?" Her professor asked her cheerfully, lifting the steaming tea kettle that had finished heating up. She must have missed the squeal of the kettle, too occupied by her own screaming.

"Yeah…" Akko muttered in reply, watching as the older woman filled the cup in front of her with the boiling water, before pouring a cup for herself.

"What exactly happened back there?" Ursula inquired, dropping several sugar cubes into Akko's cup. She even stirred it for her with the little spoon that was in it, and when she was finished, she looked expectantly at her pupil.

Akko groaned, looking down into the reflection of her frowning face made by the rippling surface of the tea. She didn't think Ursula-Sensei's patented "feel better" tea was going to fix this mess.

"I launched myself off my broom like a dummy and locked l-lips with... Diana -ahh—" Her voice hitched the further her sentence went on and Akko choked, coughing dramatically into her hand. She could feel the tips of her ears and cheeks burning.

Her professor chuckled airily, muffling the sound by bringing her cup to her lips.

"It's not _funnnnnyyy_!" Akko wailed.

"It's pretty funny…" Ursula murmured into her tea, her wine-colored eyes sparkling with mirth.

Gah, could she just not catch a break? Even her own teacher was laughing at her! She'd really screwed up this time… Diana probably never wanted to see her again!

Akko whimpered, slumping down onto the desk between them hard enough to make her teacup rattle. "What am I gonna do now?" She grumbled, knocking her head against the wood a second time. "This is soooo bad…"

There was a delicate clink, like Ursula had set her cup down, and Akko moved her head to look up at her professor over her folded arms.

Ursula's expression was thoughtful. "And what's so terrible about this?"

Akko shot upright so suddenly that the desk shook and her professor startled across from her. Alcor squawked at her for the rapid movement, his white feathers all puffed out.

"Everything!" She insisted loudly, throwing her arms over her head. "I just kissed Diana Cavendish!  _The_ Diana Cavendish!" Akko slapped her palms back over her face, sighing.

" _...Diana._ Luna Nova's top student, Moonlit Witch, queen of the whole school?!"

Ursula laughed softly again, and Akko dropped her hands to glare at her professor.

"That last one's a bit of an exaggeration, Akko." Ursula waved her own hand, rolling her eyes in a playful manner. "I still fail to see what's so awful about this. You have a crush on Diana, don't you?"

Immediately, Akko's entire body flushed at those words. "A-ah? Wha.. whatever do you-"

"Akko." Ursula said meaningfully, arching an eyebrow.

She deflated, beginning to despondently trace the rim of her untouched teacup. Her expression was rather pitiful from what she could see in the reflection of her drink.

"How did you know?"

It really was such an  _Akko_ thing of her to develop a crush on the most unattainable girl at Luna Nova. In all fairness, she'd have to be blind or brain dead not to notice how ridiculously attractive Diana was.

It was  _Diana_. Perfect, stunning, smart Diana, with her unfairly pretty face, beautiful hair, eyes like two crystal pools of water, and her breathtaking smile…

Even back when she couldn't stand Diana's haughtiness and that infuriating way she turned her nose up at her, Akko still would have admitted just how pretty she was.

And now... They had grown so close since the Noir Missile incident. Diana was just as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. She was so kind-hearted and thoughtful, loyal to the lucky few who she called her friends, and she genuinely cared about the well-beings of others.

Oh, she had it  _bad_.

 _Ugh!_ But how did Ursula-sensei know? She hadn't told anyone about her… predicament. Not even Sucy and Lotte!

Ursula's smile wavered, and awkwardly, she pushed her glasses a little farther up the bridge of her nose.

"Um... I'm certain everyone at Luna Nova knows, Akko." She shrugged at the shocked expression her student was giving her. "You two aren't exactly subtle. Except to each other, perhaps. You girls are so oblivious…" She said with fondness, shaking her head.

"Wah—" Akko squawked, but she clamped her mouth shut at the two crisp knocks that sounded on the door behind her.

Perking up, Ursula rose from her chair across from Akko and approached the door. She pulled it inward, and the brunette's heart lurched to the pits of her stomach at the brief flash of snowy blonde hair that she saw past her professor.

"Ah, hello Diana." Ursula greeted, and Akko tried her best to shrink behind her form to stay out of her classmate's sight. "Was there something you needed?"

"Hello Professor," Diana replied. "Yes, actually. Is Akko here? I would like to speak to her."

_Please, please, please Ursula-Sensei! If you love me you will lie and say—_

"Oh, of course!"

Ursula sidestepped to reveal Akko, cowering behind the backboard of her chair. She squeaked when Diana's cool blue gaze met hers but attempted to  _not_ look like such an idiot by waving at the blonde weakly and grinning.

Diana lifted an elegant eyebrow and returned the gesture with a small wave of her own. She even cocked her head a little, and  _gah!_ It should have been illegal to be that cute!

"Akko," Diana said, glancing at their professor from the corner of her eye. Ursula smiled warmly, and was it Akko's imagination, or was Diana's face getting flushed?

"I, uh, I would like to speak to you." The blonde repeated, an uncharacteristic nervousness in her voice.

It was weird... seeing Diana so flustered, even if it wasn't by that much. She was always so unflappable, stoic, and composed, but the pink dusting her cheeks and her downcast gaze was kinda adorable.

Intrigued, Akko forgot her embarrassment and hopped out of her chair to approach. "Uh, sure? What about?"

Her closeness made Diana fidget even more, brushing a luxurious wave of blonde hair from the left side of her face.

"Um... in private, Akko." She turned to Ursula, who was still politely holding her office door open. "My apologies, Professor. I need to borrow her."

In private? Oh, what was Akko getting herself into? But she couldn't refuse! That would be really rude... And the last thing Akko wanted was for Diana to hate her even more!

"Oh, it's no trouble, Diana." Ursula replied happily, placing her empty hand in between Akko's shoulder blades.

The brunette grunted in annoyance when her professor began to push her forward. Diana quickly moved out of the way as Akko was practically shoved out into the hallway.

"Have fun, girls!" Ursula called after them, slamming her office door shut.

"Gngh.." Akko growled at the closed door, furiously rubbing at the back of her head. "Ursula-sensei…" She muttered, taking a shuddering breath before looking up at Diana.

Well.. she might as well apologize for whatever this was about. She already had a pretty good idea.

"I'm… I'm really sorry about earlier, Diana."

Diana sighed, though it wasn't her usual teacher-like,  _"I'm disappointed in you"_ sigh, it was more like a calming breath to collect herself.

"I forgive you, Akko." Akko's eyes were definitely not playing tricks on her this time: Diana  _was_  blushing. "I… I did not mind it."

 _...Cute._ As cute as Diana was, Akko was confused.

"You didn't mind bashing our heads together?" She asked incredulously, tapping at the still-sore spot in the middle of her own forehead.

In fact, it was probably still red, and  _probably_  was going to leave a bruise. Though, any kind of pain was worth getting the opportunity to kiss Diana Cavendish... even if her method had been kind of unconventional.

Diana exhaled through her mouth, closing her eyes.

"No, Akko," She chuckled weakly, and Akko couldn't help but smile at the rare sound.

"...I did not mind the other part." Diana confessed, her eyes downcast.

"Uh, huh?" Akko said back dumbly. It was as if her train of thought had just derailed, crashing into a fiery explosion that roared in her ears.

Diana threaded her fingers together, flexing them nervously, but she didn't break their gaze.

"Yes, Akko. I did not mind… k-kissing you."

 _Oh._ Huh. Maybe she should have gone to see the nurse after all, this had to be some sort of brain-trauma induced hallucination, because  _Diana Cavendish_ just told her that she enjoyed kissing  _Akko Kagari_.

Akko lifted her pointer finger and opened her mouth to argue with what had been said, but no words would leave her. After several moments of gaping like a beached fish, she slowly lowered her arm.

Diana's brows drew together, and for a terrifying second Akko thought she had upset the blonde with her lack of a response, but her classmate's expression sharpened with determination. Her bashfulness had evaporated, and she exuded that unrelenting confidence she always carried herself with. It was that indomitable assurance of herself that Diana had that captivated Akko since the moment they had met, and she couldn't help but shudder now that it was directed at her.

"In fact, I would not mind doing it again." Diana said effortlessly, stepping closer.

 _Ah-_ Akko audibly gulped, having to tilt her chin back to meet the blonde's chilling sapphire eyes. Her classmate hovered even nearer, their noses now inches apart.

Funnily enough, they'd been in this sort of position before back when the faeries had been on strike so long ago, but Akko had been too fired up with the righteous indignation of the protesting faeries to fully appreciate it.

She could still remember how close they had been, close enough that Akko could see every subtle fleck of the different shades of blue in Diana's stunning irises. This moment between them now was just as vivid.

"So, may I?" Diana asked lowly, with the poise of the proud, accomplished heiress that she was.

Not really trusting herself to get out anything intelligible, Akko nodded vigorously in response.

Diana flashed her a brief, genuinely delighted smile, lifting her hands to gently cup Akko's face. Akko marveled at the tender touch as Diana was leaning downward, her eyes closed.

Smiling uncontrollably, Akko met her halfway, their lips meeting with a rush of electricity that shuddered down her spine to the ends of her fingers and toes.

What else could she say that wasn't just as sappy as describing their kiss as downright magical? Because kissing Diana was so much more enjoyable when they weren't crashing into each other at a thousand miles per hour, (who would have figured?).

They pulled apart, and still Akko was grinning like an idiot when Diana's lips left hers, her classmate's hands still cradling her cheeks.

Diana peered right into Akko's eyes, her own shining with unbridled affection, but their was also certain kind of.. sadness in her gaze. Akko felt her skin flush even hotter when the blonde lovingly brushed her thumbs across her cheekbones, her goofy smile falling at the grim expression.

"When I confessed to you, you tried to refute it," Diana uttered softly, her mouth twisting into that somber line that was too distinctive of the Diana before they had become friends. "Why, Akko?"

Akko could have brought herself to laugh, albeit bitterly.

Why had she tried to argue? Well obviously because she was _Akko_ , a low-brow witch with no magical or noble history whatsoever. She was hot-headed, reckless, and untalented, everything that Diana was not. Her grades had been abysmal, maybe  _slightly_  above average at this point, while Diana was in the top percentile of every single class. Even their personalities contrasted! Diana was subdued and quiet, and Akko was anything but. They were polar opposites in every aspect! Diana was perfect at everything she did, and even when Akko tried her hardest, she usually failed spectacularly.

A familiar burning was beginning at the backs of Akko's eyes, and she blinked harshly, gritting her teeth as she raised her own hands to cover Diana's.

It was.. difficult to keep her spirits, her dreams, so high, when all that greeted her most days was failure. Diana deserved better than what Akko had to offer.

She felt Diana reel slightly, at the touch or her watering eyes, whichever it was, and Akko attempted to smile again as she answered:

"Because you're.. well, you. You're Diana Cavendish, and I'm.." She breathed in shakily, the pricks in her eyes growing more intense. "I'm  _me_. Why would  _you_  want  _me?"_

Diana's fingers tightened over Akko's cheeks, not uncomfortably, but firmly. Her expression was nearly hysterical.

"Akko, I cannot even  _fathom_  that.. that you-" The blonde inhaled shakily, and no, no,  _oh no_ , her eyes were becoming cloudy now! Akko had never seen Diana cry, and she never wanted to! She especially did not want to be the cause of those tears!

"Akko, you're incredible. You're bright, you're endearing, you're criminally strong-willed and you have a heart of gold. Why... why wouldn't I want you?!"

Akko had only heard Diana speak with such fierceness once, back at the Cavendish Manor when she had exploded at her Aunt over the trampling of the Cavendish name. Her knees felt weak, buckling underneath the genuine emotion, the genuine  _passion_  that Diana displayed.

The blonde, almost heaving and seemingly at a loss for what else to say, slipped her hands out of from underneath Akko's to wrap her arms around the brunette's waist. She yanked Akko closer, so that their fronts were flush against the other's, and dove in for a wanton kiss.

Akko guessed that Diana figured showing her love would be easier than trying to explain it anymore, and she melted into the other girl's lips, her heart a fluttering mess and her mind a whirlwind.

As much Akko would have appreciated kissing the girl of her dreams all day long, they both had to breathe, and separated, though Diana didn't move away. She embraced the brunette tighter, a heavy breath escaping her lungs when she propped her chin onto Akko's shoulder.

"I like you because you  _are_  you, Atsuko Kagari. I would not have you any other way."

Akko felt herself slacken with relief. Her cheeks were beginning to ache with how wide she was smiling now, and she couldn't hold herself back any longer. Akko threw herself fully at her classmate, essentially tackling her.

Diana yelped, catching herself on the wall with one of her hands, her other instinctively moving to support Akko's lower back as the brunette wrapped both her legs and arms around her.

Akko's eyes were watering, with purely happy tears, no,  _overjoyed_ tears as she clutched the other girl tightly. She buried her face into the crook of the blonde's neck, breathing in that lingering smell of old parchment and vanilla that Diana carried with herself.

"I love you Diana!" She declared breathlessly, leaning back so that she could look Diana in the face. The blonde's cheeks were ablaze, and she was wearing a hilariously bewildered expression.

Diana faltered for a moment, threatening to drop Akko, but she adjusted herself at the last moment, her skin more flushed than before. She looked like she was straining, lines forming on her forehead and at the corners of her lips.

"I-I lo-ve you t-too, Akko," Diana said shakily, then she gasped, sinking a little lower. "A-kko, I c-can't ho-ld you up…"

"Oh," Akko giggled, hopping off her. "Sorry." She pranced backward a step, grinning very cheekily as she flexed one of her arms. "I don't blame you, Diana. I am  _pure muscle_ after all!"

Exhaling out her laughter, Diana shook her head before extending her hand a second time. "What do you say we return to the others, Akko?" She suggested.

Akko blinked down at the inviting hand for a moment, smiled, and planted her palm in Diana's. “Sure thing!”

She trailed after the blonde as she advanced down the hallway and declared, “Look out world, here comes Diakko!”

Diana faltered, giving Akko a dubious look over her shoulder. “Diakko?”

“Yea! It’s our names mashed together!” Akko grinned at her newly-acquired girlfriend, swaying their joined hands. “Diakko!” She repeated happily.

“Akko…” Diana shook her head dismally and resumed down the long hallway, giving the brunette’s hand a squeeze. “Never say that again.”

 _“Hey!”_ Akko squawked indignantly, hurrying after her.


End file.
